**COSTA Condemns GM Coffee and supports Fair Trade**

**Other UK Coffee Chains & Supermarkets Pledge To Boycott GM Coffee** **No Pledge Yet From STARBUCKS**

The three campaigns against GM coffee being organised by Action Aid, Genetic Food Alert and the Organic Consumers Association are progressing well as major UK coffee outlets issue statements to say that they will not stock GM coffee.

COSTA, the UK's largest coffee chain, was especially outspoken in its support for ActionAid's campaign (see COSTA's excellent Press Release below) and positive statements (further below) that they would not use GM coffee have also been made by the UK coffee chains PRET A MANGER, WHITTARD OF CHELSEA & CAFFE NERO and the supermarket chains SOMERFIELD and SAFEWAY.

No such pledge has yet been received from STARBUCKS, the UK's second largest (and rapidly growing) coffee chain, but both the Organic Consumers Association and Genetic Food Alert are involved in intensive lobbying of them and have entered into ongoing discussions.  We hope STARBUCKS may make a clear commitment soon.

ROBERT VINT, National Co-ordinator GENETIC FOOD ALERT UK

coordinator@geneticfoodalert.org.uk     UK 01803 868523

***************************** COSTA- the only UK coffee chain to serve a Fairtrade coffee, says 'No' to GM coffee

Costa - the true home of Italian coffee - announced today that it will never use GM coffee beans.

GM

The development of GM coffee will potentially push 60 million people further into poverty. This has caused charities such as Action Aid to campaign against the genetic modification of coffee beans. One purpose of genetically modifying coffee would be to make all beans ripen simultaneously - to allow mass machine harvesting. In nature, coffee beans don't all ripen at the same time, making any mechanised picking inefficient; this is why 70% of all coffee today is still grown and hand picked by smallholder farmers in developing countries. By taking away their main source of income changing to GM coffee would wipe out the livelihoods of these farmers. "Millions of small farmers could lose their livelihood if a new genetically modified coffee crop is developed. On behalf of Costa I would like to make it very clear that we have no intention of entertaining this new development. As producers and retailers of espresso and gourmet coffee we have the unique control of the coffee from plantation to cup. I therefore not only support small estate producers but also ensure that my agents and myself are in direct contact with them. I hope that all other large and small roasters will follow in our support in saying 'no'' to genetically engineered coffee."

Gino Amasanti, Costa General Manager

FAIRTRADE Costa's commitment to support small scale producers was demonstrated 6 months ago with the launch of Cafédirect in Costa stores. Costa is also the only UK coffee chain to give consumers the option to drink a Fairtrade coffee. By working in partnership with Cafédirect, Costa offer the consumer a Fairtrade option for any of their espresso-based coffees, and offer Fairtrade Teadirect as standard. In doing so, Costa is able to support coffee and tea growers and give their customers the opportunity to do the same. As Oxfam has recently reported, organisations such as Cafédirect ensure that small farmer co-operatives are given a fair price for their crop - as much as 100 percent over and above prevailing world market prices. Cafédirect carries the Fairtrade Mark, created by the Fairtrade Foundation - an independent guarantee to consumers that products they are purchasing directly support producers in developing countries and guarantees them a fair deal. "We're thrilled with our Fairtrade partnership - it's important to us that coffee drinkers have a choice at Costa. So whether it's our 30 year old recipe or our very new Fairtrade blend, our espressos - always roasted the Italian way - taste absolutely fantastic. Our Fairtrade espresso is a coffee that our Italian founders, Sergio and Bruno Costa can be proud of." Laurie

Morgan, Marketing Director, Costa

"Our partnership with Costa is a major opportunity to communicate the Fairtrade message to a wider audience in a new and contemporary context. Consumers can now exert their purchasing power on the high street as much as in the supermarket. By choosing Cafédirect espresso blend or Teadirect in Costa, they clearly make a positive contribution to the lives of the growers and their families." Sylvie Condette, Strategic

Development Manager, Cafédirect

Gino Amasanti, General Manager, Costa Laurie Morgan, Marketing Director, Costa Sylvie Condette, Strategic Development Manager, Cafédirect Ltd are

available for interview

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact: Genny Janvrin, 020 7208 7273, genny_janvrin@jcpr.com Emmeline Wilson, 020 7208 7265, emmeline_wilson@jcpr.com Jackie Cooper Public Relations, switchboard 020 7208 7208

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PRET A MANGER (from Letter to ActionAid)

"As a company we are totally committed to using GM-Free ingredients for all of our products and will only use GM-Free coffee beans in the production of our coffee products, now and in the future" Andrew Rolfe,

Chairman & Chief Executive 25/5/01

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WHITTARD OF CHELSEA (from Letter to ActionAid)

"Whittard of Chelsea does not currently buy any GM crops and we have no intention of doing so in the future.  Specifically we would have no difficulty in pledging not to stock or sell ripening-controlled GM coffee. We are already talking to our suppliers in order to agree this. We agree with ActionAid that the introduction of this technology would be potentially very damaging to a large number of the world's coffee producers." Richard Knight, Managing Director 16/5/01

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CAFE NERRO (from Letter to ActionAid)

"Thank you for having drawn my attention to GM ripening-controlled coffee. I was not aware of this potential threat to the traditional method of collecting coffee beans.  All of our coffee beans are hand picked to ensure that the Caffe Nero coffee is the best and we are proud of that fact. We asked all of our suppliers last year to confirm that they were not supplying us with genetically modified ingredients or products containing genetically modified ingredients.  Following receipt of this information we published a notice in all Caffe Neros stating that none of the products we were selling contain any genetically modified material.  That is still our position today and we have no intention of changing that position." Paul Ettinger, Commercial Director 26/6/01

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SOMERFIELD Stores Ltd (from Letter to ActionAid)

"..we are very comfortable in prodiding a pledge with regard to our own product ranges." ... "You are therefore in a position to be able to confirm that Somerfield have given a pledge with regard to their own label products and I trust that will be so recorded in your publicity materials". Alan Smith, Chief Executive 22/6/01

***************************** SAFEWAY

(from Letter to ActionAid)

"Safeway has already removed GM ingredients from own label products and as such has no intentions of stocking the GM ripening-controlled coffee." Liz Kynoch, Technical Director 29/6/01

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